Asian Research Thesis Index

Abstract

Negation of Metaphysics in Twentieth Century Literary Theory This thesis attempts to locate the phenomena of negation of metaphysics in literary theories in twentieth century. In the twentieth century, literary criticism got the form of a theory. It happened because of the influence of science in every field of studies. Critics introduced new principles of reading the text. These principles of reading a text collectively form literary theory. With the advent of post-modernism many new ways of looking at existing world emerged in every field of studies. Emergence of new ways owed much to the negation of metaphysics. The trend of the negation of metaphysics also occurred in the field of literary criticism. The researcher wants to explore the negation of metaphysics in the twentieth century literary theory, because negation of metaphysics causes an intellectual disintegration among the critics of twentieth century. As a result of it different approaches have emerged that have their own position to see a piece of literature. It is impossible to explore a way out of this situation that could lead to integration of the views rather than their division and expansion. This research could be a possible solution to this problem. Researcher wants to prove that the major cause of literary theories, emerging under different names in the twentieth century is the negation of metaphysics. Traditional metaphysics studies reality beyond mere appearance. It tries to answer three questions; (1) what is the reality of the universe, (2) what is the purpose of the universe, (3) who is the creator of it? To answer these questions metaphysics builds a system. Through this approach it tries to solve the problems related to the physical as well as metaphysical world. In the twentieth century the philosophers negate metaphysics. They reject metaphysics on the grounds that it is too ambitious in its approach. They believe that there is a world present beyond the physical world, but one cannot know this world because one's ability to rationalize that world is limited. It leads them to propose that one should investigate the world that is material and could be understood through senses. In the twentieth century, language has caught the attention of philosophers, social scientists and linguists. The main thing discussed in the study of language is its meaning and the transmission of the meaning/s. Traditional metaphysics solves this problem through the formation of system. This system helps the receiver to get the meanings of the word. In the post-modern era this concept about language has been rejected. According to the post-modern concept, language does not reflect reality rather it is transparent. A reader constructs the language during the reading process. This concept has found a place in literary criticism. One of the causes of this trend is the emergence of different literary theories in the field of criticism. Researcher has delimited his focus to Marxist and Feminist literary theories in order to prove his point.

Add/Update Thesis